Senator Asks That Implementation of Fiduciary Rule Be Ceased

Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin),
chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Committee, asked three top regulators in the outgoing Obama
administration to cease implementing especially burdensome new
regulations.

In one letter, Johnson wrote to Department of Labor
Secretary Tom Perez about the department’s fiduciary rule. In his
letter, Johnson noted that in February 2016, he released a staff report
showing that the rule will likely increase compliance costs for
small-business advisers, increase uncertainty in the markets and
decrease the availability for investment advice for low- and
middle-income Americans.

“In light of the significant economic
costs on investment markets and the substantial likelihood that the
incoming Administration and the 115th Congress will unwind this
burdensome regulation, I call on the Labor Department to cease its
implementation of its fiduciary regulation. I hope the Labor Department
will acknowledge the reality of the situation and avoid imposing
unnecessary costs and burdens in further implementation of a regulation
that will very likely be rescinded,” Johnson wrote in the letter.

Johnson’s letter about the fiduciary rule can be found here. More information about Johnson’s requests to Obama Administration officials is here.